Flying machine



Feb. 16, 1943. c. DORNIER FLYING MACHINE Filed Marsh 15, 1958 ,1 1.. 1F 1. W SE F h I 1 i 5 u g 5 r fi/ l INVENTOR CL/J UOE flO/iN/EE.

Patented Feb. 16, 1943 2,311,161 FLYING MACHINE Claude Dornier, see,Germany; todian Fricdrlchshafen-on-the -Bodenvested in the AlienProperty Cus- Application March 15, 1938, Serial No. 195,949

4 Claims.

The present invention relates top. new and improved airplane, moreparticularly to aseaplane in which parts of the wings act as floats andwhich has no specially projecting floats which increase'weight and airresistance.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an airplane of thetype specified which has no floats which project from the wings andwhich are likely to be broken away at rough landings, and which has nofloats in the form of stumps projecting from the fuselage on whichstumps the forces of buoyancy act on a short lever and causeconsiderable rocking of the seaplane. The plane according to the presentinvention also obviates the shortcomings of seaplanes in which the wingsare connected to the fuselage at a very low point whereby the root ofthe wing is supposed to act as a float; also in the latter case theflying boat is subjected to undesirable rocking and it is quite possiblethat the tips of the wings when starting, such a large part of the wingsis flooded that rising of the machine from the water is made impossible.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a flying boat of themonoplane type in which the wings are connected with the fuselage orhull high above the water line and are curved downwards until thecontact with the surface of the water is established. From the points ofcontact of the wings with the water the wings again rise in an outwarddirection so that the front view of the plane supporting surfacesresembles a W.

A flying boat of the configuration set forth has several advantages overflying boats of conventional design. There are no floats which in spiteof great air resistance provide only little buoyancy. The entire wingsystem according to the present invention is used to provide efficientair supporting surfaces and parts thereof produce buoyancy at a largeleverage when the machine rests on the water. The wings rise immediatelyadjacent to the parts acting as floats at such a steep angle thatimmersion of the wing tips or roots into the water is prevented.

the present invention the parts of the wings which contact the water aremade particularly water tight and strong to resist waterhammer and maybe built as specially strong hollow floats attached underneath the wingsor built in the lowermost parts of the wings and provided withtransverse walls which subdivide the float into individual watertightcompartments. Instead of such specially built tanks According to GermanyMarch 31, 1937 dip into the water or that, V

the interior of the lower parts may be fllled with air fllled bags orother buoyancy creating means. Another object of the present inventionresides in the provision of a seaplane of the type specified in whichthe parts of the wings which are outside of the parts which contact thewater are removable and/or which are provided with retractable landinggears to adapt the flying machines also to landing on hard ground.

Further and other objects of the present invention will be hereinafterset forth in the accompanying specification and claims and shown in thedrawing which, by way of illustration, show what I now consider to be apreferred embodiment of my invention.

In the drawing: Figure 11s a diagrammatic front view of a flying machineaccording to the present invention Figure 2 is a diagrammatic front viewof a flying machine according to the present invention and beingprovided with retractable landing gears and in which parts of the wingsare re-= movable.

Figure 3 is a large scale view of a part of the wing of an airplaneaccording to the present invention.

Figure 4 shows a modification of 'the part shown in Fig. 3.

Referring more particularly to Fig. 1 of the drawing, i represents thefuselage to'which the wing parts 2 are connected laterally and at apoint which is high above the water level II. The root part 2 of thewing carries a propelling unit l8 and is curved downwards until itreaches the water level at the point designated by numeral 3. From pointor rather edge 3 the tip parts 5 of the wing project upwards andsidewards. The front view of a wing according to the present inventionhas thus substantially the configuration of a V. The lowest part of thewing part I which connects the root and the tip part of the wing isbuilt as a float l1. Disconnectable joints l2 and/or l3 may be providedbetween the float part I and the tip part 5 and/or the root part 2 ofthe wing. When the machine rests on the water for longer periods or whenthe outer ends of the wings are not needed or when these partsconstitute a hindrance it may be found convenient to make use of saiddisconnectable joints.

Fig. 2 shows a flying machine which is simila'r to that shown in Fig. 1and which is provided with a landing gear 5 which is connected to thelowest part I of the wing which is constructed as a float 9. The landinggear can be completely retracted into a suitable cavity iii which isprovided for this purpose in the rt 8 of the wing which is the partwhich is connected to the main 9, Due to the disconnectable Joint H thetip parts may be taken off if dmired.

Fig: 3 shows a top view of the float and joint art it it. The float partis provided with separating walls i5 whereby a plurality of individualwatertight compartments is formed.

In addition or instead of the subdividing walls it a plurality ofindividual watertight bags 16 may be provided as are shown in Fig. 4.

While I believe the above described embodiments of my invention t bevpreferred embodiments, I wish it to be understood that I do not desireto be limited to the exact details of design and construction shown anddescribed, for obvious modifications'will occur to a person skilled inthe art.

I claim:

l, A'hydropiane comprising a hull, a wing com-= Y prising a root portioncantilever like connected to the upper part of said hull and extendinglaterally downward from the upper part of the hull and having an upperand a lower surface, both surfaces being curved towards said hull, saidroot portion forming a completely unobstructed cavity extendingalongside said hull, a main wing portion having an inner end connectedto the outer end of said root portion and having an upper and a lowersurface, both said surfaces being concavely curved with respect to theground and extending laterally upward from the outer end of therespective surfaces of said root portion, the lower surface of the outerend of said root portion and the lower surface of the inner end of saidmain wing portion merging into a downward pointing edge like portion andforming an acute angle with-one another, said edge like portion beingubstantially as low as the normal water level of said hull and floatmeans entirely inside said wing above said edge lilac portion. l

l 2., A hydroplane comprising a hull, a wing comprising a root portioncantilever like conto the upper part of said hull and em tending laterdownward from the upper part of the hull and having an upper and a.lower surface, both surfaces being curved towards said hull, said rootportion forming a completely unobstructed cavity extending alongsidesaid hull, a main wing portion having an inner and connected to theouter end of said root portion and having an upper and a lower surface,both said surfaces being concavely curved with respect to the ground andextending laterally upward from the outer end of the respective surfacesof said root portion, the lower surface of the outer end of said rootportion and the lower surface of the inner end of said main wing portionmerging into a downward pointing edge like portion and forming an acuteangle with one another, said edge like portion being substantially aslow as the normal water level of said hull and float means disposedentirely inside said wing above said edge like portion and extendingover the whole length of said edge like portion across the wing.

3. A hydroplane comprising a hull, a sectional wing comprising a rootsection cantilever like and permanently connected to the upper part ofsaid hull and extending laterally downward from the upper part of thehull and having an upper and a lower surface, both surfaces being curvedtowards said hull, said root section forming a completely unobstructedcavity extending alongside said hull, an intermediary section removablyconnected to the outer end of said root section and having an uppersurface portion extending trough=like across said wing and having alower surface composed of two surface portions merging into a downwardpointing edge like portion and forming an acute angle with one another,said edge like portion being substantially as low as the normal waterlevel of said hull, and a main wing section removably connected to saidintermediary portion and having an upper and a lower surface, both saidsurfaces being concavely curved with respect to the ground and formingthe continuation of the respective outward portions of said intermediarysection.

4. A hydroplane as set forth in claim 3 comprising float means disposedentirely inside said intermediary section.

. CLAUDE DORNIER.

